GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota men's basketball team opened its 2016-17 season a 98-48 rout of Crown College on Friday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
UND (1-0) saw four-different players reach double-figures and were lead by Quinton Hooker as the senior scored 17 points and also added three steals.
"I think there were some jitters early and we did not get out a great start, but I thought we got better and better as the game went along," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "I thought our bench did a nice job and gave us some nice production. That is going to be one of the keys to our season moving forward."
The Fighting Hawks shot 52.2 percent from the field for the game and held the Storm to only 31.3 percent shooting.
Drick Bernstine did not wait long to record his first double-double of the season as the junior scored 12 points and taillied 10 rebounds. He had nine in his first season at UND a year ago.
Senior Corey Baldwin added 16 and Conner Avants chipped in with 13 in a starting role for UND.
Newcomers Kienan Walter (9 points), Billy Brown (8 points), and Devon Pekas (7 points) each scored their first points in a UND uniform during the win, which counted as an exhibition for the Division III visitors from southern Minnesota.
Avants and Walter each added nine boards as piece as UND dominated that category, holding a 49-28 advantage on the glass.
Crown stayed in the game early by making a quarter of 3-pointers as the teams were squared at 12-12 five minutes into the contest, but the home team put the game away with a 16-2 run.
The Fighting Hawks would push that advantage to 47-22 by halftime. Crown only made one field goal inside the arc in the opening half and just six for the game.
The Storm never got within single digits the rest of the way as UND won its eighth-straight game when opening a season at home. Josh Volness led the visiting Storm with nine points.
UND will host Mayville State on Tuesday in another nonconference matchup. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
-- UND --
